Former US President Barack Obama is facing new complications surrounding the construction of his long-planned Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, following allegations of racial discrimination by a black-owned subcontractor.
The South Side-based company II in One, run by the contractor Robert McGee, filed a federal lawsuit this month claiming his firm was subjected to excessively rigorous inspections and unfair treatment by one of the major construction firms involved, Thornton Tomasetti. The lawsuit also seeks nearly $40 million in reimbursement for construction-related costs.
McGee claimed that Thornton Tomasetti put II in One under too much examination and documentation requirements, greatly affecting production and ultimately causing a financial loss. He also alleged that the firm targeted his company unfairly while being more lenient to non-minority-owned contractors.
However, Thornton Tomasetti denied the allegations, saying that the delays and cost overruns were caused by the poor performance and lack of experience of II in One. The company claims that it has spent hundreds of hours reviewing, analyzing, and correcting the work done by McGee’s firm, which it says has resulted in numerous problems in the construction process.
The Obama Foundation has also been vocal on this issue, responding to the accusations by spokesperson Emily Bittner, who commented that if the foundation believed a vendor was working with racist intentions, it would have acted very promptly. Emily added that based on what the firm did, Thornton Tomasetti’s work did not have racial intent.
Obama has gone on record saying he will utilize as much local labor and local contractors, as well as minority-owned businesses, to build the center. The current legal fight is just one in a string of issues surrounding this project: delayed construction, overruns, and even complaints that the proposed site is in an inappropriate location.
